Rauf Bolden : Proposing property tax cuts in Orange Beach
Tax cuts are Republican doctrine. Mayor Tony Kennon does not agree. He raised the lodging tax from 11% to 13%, expressed mathematically it is a monetary increase of 15.38%, (1.00 – 11/13) x 100 = 15.38%. This Ordinance passed in the Council Chambers with five affirmative votes, only Councilman Jeff Boyd dissented. Why are we gouging families who come to the beach on vacation? The lodging tax is geared toward one goal, providing enough funding to build the Wolf Bay Bridge ($60 Million), ostensibly alleviating traffic, making life less stressful for everyone. “It took me 55 minutes to get home [from work], and I live ten miles away,” said Lizzy Burch, Manager of Infinity Bicycles on Hwy. 161. Even before the lodging increase, the city had over $40 million in reserves, generating $15 million above yearly expenses, according to financial reports on the city’s website. Mayor Kennon’s logic is business centric, getting someone else to pay for the bridge through increased lodging taxes, thereby keeping his reserves in the vault. Tax revenue is the life force of a municipality. Let’s explore other ways Mayor Tony Kennon could generate income. Adding two cents to the gasoline tax at the local level, adding thirty cents to the cost of each sugary drink sold as a youth-targeted health tax, adding fifty cents to tobacco products is obviously a health tax, adding fifty cents to each alcoholic drink purchased in the bars and restaurants is a sin tax. All these would increase revenue, but would kill economic growth. Is the role of government to increase revenue streams like a business, or stimulate economic growth? John Maynard Keynes (1883-1946) defined tax cuts as a way to stimulate economic growth. In turn the growth from tax cuts pays for infrastructure like bridges. This concept is the foundation of creating wealth, heralded by Republicans as a pillar of conservative thought. George W. Bush (Republican), and Donald J. Trump (Republican) pushed through tax cuts during their administrations. Mayor Tony Kennon (Republican) just doesn’t get it. He espouses, I am running this city like a business, putting tax revenue ahead of economic growth. A government is not a business. Firstly, a city is a tax-free entity, competing with a tax-free advantage. To manage a government like a business is opening oneself up to charges of leveraging the city’s tax-free status, influencing vendors, cronyism, abuse of power, and ethical foul play. If the city were a business, beholding to its shareholders, they would behave differently. The residents in Orange Beach have not had a direct return on their investment (ROI) in the last ten years, exposing the duplicity of the city’s increasing revenues while living tax free, and not paying a dividend. Let’s look at it as a business. Tax cuts are a way to provide a return, but how? Property tax repeal (4-mils) is a good place to start. In confidence, a Councilman once told me we need that money from property taxes, because they generate approximately $3.5 million per year in revenue. Taking $3.5 million out of a $40 million pot does not seem like a lot to me. Going back to the words of John Maynard Keynes, cutting taxes spurs growth. We must have imagination. Eliminating property taxes in Orange Beach will drive up property values, igniting growth in the local real estate market. The time to press the advantage is now, because eventually Gulf Shores must raise property taxes, supporting an independent school system, driving up the demand for real estate in tax-free Orange Beach, creating wealth for local residents. This idea embraces conservative ideology, but Mayor Tony Kennon will not support a tax cut. Rebating money to residents as shareholders is not what he does, and there is no way to change it. In all fairness we should present practical arguments against tax cuts. Orange Beach must keep adding to its large reserves as a built-in cushion against the devastating effects of possible storms, keeping the city safe during the long recovery. The downside is the Fed will look at Orange Beach’s balance sheet after a disaster, having $40 million in reserves, arguing we don’t need Federal Grants, passing the recovery funds on to more needy neighbors like Gulf Shores, Foley, Satsuma, Citronelle, Bon Secour, Bayou La Batre, and the Gulf State Park. You get penalized for running it like a business. I argue a property tax repeal is necessary, giving back to the community, especially with a favorable balance sheet. Eliminating the 4-mil property tax is an opportunity, increasing real estate values, growing the economy, and creating wealth for local home owners. Rauf Bolden is retired IT Director at the City of Orange Beach, working as an IT & Web Consultant on the Beach Road. He can be reached by email: publisher@velvetillusion.com. Disclosure from Rauf Bolden: I wrote this article myself, and it expresses my own opinions. I am not receiving compensation for it. I have no business relationship with any company whose stock is mentioned in this article. For more Orange Beach articles by Rauf Bolden see Alabama Today.
Rauf Bolden: Bridge2NoWhere in Orange Beach
Joe Emerson is a man of action. He made an activist’s move over three years ago, establishing a Facebook Group, presently having 2660+ members called: End The Bridge2Nowhere. The group opposes an $87 million state-funded flyover bridge (Diagram 1 below) west of the Foley Beach Express in Orange Beach. The flyover bridge (Diagram 1) is scheduled for 2019, ostensibly alleviating tourist traffic, and providing a hurricane-evacuation route from Orange Beach and Gulf Shores. The Wolf Bay Bridge (Diagram 2) is another proposed project next to Doc’s, but funded by the City of Orange Beach not the State of Alabama. The two bridges have different funding. It is easy to confuse the two, being only a few miles apart on Canal Road. This piece is concerned with opposition to the flyover bridge. Although the Wolf Bay Bridge is mentioned, it is not the focus of any opposition in Orange Beach. Joe’s Facebook Group argues the taxpayer-funded flyover bridge is a misuse of the State of Alabama’s infrastructure money. According to a report by Apryl Marie Fogel at Alabama Today, the Alabama Department of Transportation (ALDOT) cannot explain how the decision was made; funding the ALDOT approved flyover bridge in Orange Beach with state taxpayer dollars. Mayor Tony Kennon of Orange Beach thinks Joe’s group does not have all the facts, “…load up and come to a council meeting so that u can get the facts, the real truth and stop being educated into further ignorance by following this site,” posted Mayor Tony Kennon on Facebook. Public Meeting Notice: The City of Gulf Shores is hosting a comments meeting, as required by the Corps of Engineers, discussing the flyover bridge on November 15, 5 p.m. – 7 p.m., in the Gulf Shores Activity Center, 260 Club House Drive, Gulf Shores, Ala.. This meeting should clarify any doubts regarding the actual location of the proposed flyover bridge, allowing citizens to submit letters for or against the project. Send your email to: swinfo@dot.state.al.us. “Right now, there is a proposal to take that damn flyover [bridge] out of our backyard [in Craft Farms]. Supposedly they are going to move the road further east closer to the Foley Beach Express. I don’t have anything set in stone they’re going to totally do away with the flyover,” said Mike Powell in a report by the Lagniappe. “This [flyover] bridge and roadway will be built,” said Gulf Shores Mayor Craft at a Council Meeting, reported in the Mullet Wrapper. The Mayor’s comments carry weight, summarizing the public hearing on November 15 as simply a formality by the Corps of Engineers. His comments essentially galvanize opponents of the flyover bridge with a mix of alarm and apathy. It seems the cities of Orange Beach and Gulf Shores have already decided to endorse the project. Residents care about how their tax dollars are spent. “I think a [flyover] bridge west of the toll bridge would be a redundant idea, east of the bridge would be a better idea,” said Jonathan Christie, an eight year resident of Orange Beach. “Living in the Josephine community, I am afraid of the growth and everything that goes with that [Wolf Bay Bridge],” explained Deputy Chief Greg Duck (retired), a veteran of the Orange Beach Police Department. “Neither [bridge] makes sense to me,” Karen Clark, a 39-year resident of Orange Beach said. “It seems to me that [flyover] bridge [will only be another place that cars will be dumped on to Canal Road — they’ll then either have to go east or west just like they do coming off of the Foley Beach Express. That won’t help the traffic problem on Canal. What I think is really needed is another road south to beach highway,” added a resident of over 20 years, requesting anonymity. The Facebook Group argues the flyover bridge is not needed, but others disagree. “If we give them [tourists] another option [flyover bridge], a free option and potentially a quicker option than Highway 59, you’re removing 20 percent of the traffic off of Highway 59. The largest pinch point on this island is that bridge [on Hwy 59],” said Blake Phelps, Gulf Shores Director of Economic Development, in a report by the Mullet Wrapper. One wonders if the sole motivation of the flyover bridge is to put the privately owned toll bridge (Foley Beach Express) out of business. Perhaps the Orange Beach City Council is planning to acquire the Toll Plaza in receivership for pennies on the dollar, giving residents a healthy return on their public-private partnership. ••• Rauf Bolden is retired IT Director at the City of Orange Beach, working as an IT & Web Consultant on the Beach Road. He can be reached at: publisher@velvetillusion.com.
